Photo By Spc. Joshua Zayas-Sabogal | Pvt. Benjamin Trejos, an infantryman assigned to 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment,...... read more read more
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U.S. Army Pvt. Benjamin "Ben" Trejos, an infantryman, assigned to 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, has dedicated most of his life to helping others.
Born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, Florida, Trejos recalls his mother teaching him the importance of being selfless and kind to others.
"I was raised by a single mom," Trejos said. "She always told me to be nice and kind to others."
Trejos' first volunteering experience came from Teen Trendsetters, a mentoring program for first, second, and third graders who struggle with reading. The children are assigned a teen mentor from middle or high school who meets with them weekly, and they work together to improve reading.
"My mom used to take us to the nursing homes to cut the old people's hair," Trejos said. "No one pays attention to them, unfortunately, so she used to take us with her just to hang out with the elderly. She always volunteered with us."
During high school, Trejos said that he continued to take opportunities to help people in his community, such as participating in the 5,000 role models program with his best friend. The 5,000 Role Models program is a mentoring program committed to guiding minority male students in grades K-12 and college to increase their employability in higher-wage, high skills jobs within high-demand industries. Participating in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps throughout high school offered many community volunteering opportunities for Trejos.
Trejos said although his love for volunteering and helping others began because of his mother, he found his true calling in helping children at one of the events that his mother held.
"My mom used to do a Christmas party every year for kids," Trejos said. "During one of those years, I had taken my best friend to that event, and its kind of a sorrowful memory. Many of the kids had shown signs of abuse. Once, we were playing with a little girl and she freaked out when we touched her. They had to take her away because she wouldn't stop crying. It was honestly a very eye-opening moment for me. That's when I realized that not everybody had it as nicely as we did."
As events and disasters in the world continued to unfold, Trejos attempted to find ways to help suffering people. He said he would try to participate in projects or create projects to help those in need.
"There was a time when I had created a GoFundMe for children in Syria when the bombings were going on," Trejos said. "Growing up with my brother and about eight cousins that I consider siblings, I wouldn't like to see any of them go through that kind of thing."
Trejos stated that he looked up to superheroes and wanted to be one as a young kid. He searched for the closest thing he saw to become a hero and gathered his inspiration from comic books.
"I grew up liking Marvel superheroes," Trejos said. "Unfortunately, I didn't get Spider-Man's powers, so the closest thing to being a superhero was becoming a Soldier. The uniform has a standard to it, and the kids see it differently than adults see it. They don't see all the negative sides of it. It gives me a little push to be able to motivate someone else."
As Trejos grew older, he drew inspiration from real-world Soldiers and the United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land teams. Trejos stated that his step-father helped him get closer to his goal of becoming a Soldier.
"I grew up watching like reading the books on guys like Chris Kyle, Marcus Luttrell and Brandon Webb," Trejos said. "They are SEALs and I'm not getting into the water anytime soon, but I got my inspiration from them. My stepdad served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, so he took my big kid dream and then refined it. He gave me pointers and was basically my recruiter."
"He's a very respectful and squared away Soldier," said Sgt. Stephen Moore, Trejos' noncommissioned officer, an Infantryman assigned to 4th Bn., 9th Inf. Reg 1st SBCT, 4th Inf. Div. "In the short time that I've known him, I have seen noticeable growth in him. He's very respectful and he carries a lot of mental strength with him."
Even after reporting to his unit, Trejos still tries to give back and volunteer when he can. "Now that I'm here, I'm trying to sign up for Hope and Home, it's a foster care around here where I'll be able to go there hang out with the kids on the weekdays," said Trejos. "It's just something I like to do. I have a lot of free time so if I can do something good and help out and inspire somebody even as a private then it's worth it."
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| Date Taken: | 02.14.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2022 07:25 |
| Story ID: | 415168 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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